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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: rule · wind · press · capital · cue · cold · cabinet · board

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. cue — a signal
  4. press — to push
  5. cue — a hint
  6. capital — money
  7. cue — for pool
  8. rule — government
  9. wind — moving air
  10. rule — a law
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. board — to get on
  13. wind — moving air
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. capital — a city
  16. board — a committee
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. press — newspapers
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. cold — an illness
  21. press — a publisher
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com